Peninsula: It’s just a dream, are you serious?

Chapter 418 Unexpectedly, there was a pleasant surprise! (Crown Moe 56)

Soon after, he came back in carrying the gift box that had been placed by the door.

Lee Ji-eun walked slowly because the gift was quite heavy and about half her height.

Returning to Chen Yan's side, she carefully placed the gift box down, then began to unwrap it while muttering to herself:

"Honestly, thank goodness no one took it. How could they just leave the gift box at the door like that?"

Chen Yan chuckled to himself.

I was about to say something about how something I left at the entrance of the recording studio would only be there for a short while, so who would take it? But then I remembered it was this girl's birthday, so I swallowed my words.

Instead, she readily admitted her mistake: "Okay, I was wrong. I shouldn't have left the gift for you outside like that."

Upon hearing this, the girl stopped muttering to herself, pouted and hummed twice, then smiled.

The gift's outer packaging was quickly torn open, revealing part of the gift itself.

Upon seeing that familiar shape, Lee Ji-eun paused slightly and turned to look at Chen Yan.

Chen Yan smiled and nodded: "I had it custom-made. See if you like it."

The girl's eyes lit up, and she quickened her pace in unwrapping the gifts. Chen Yan also got up and came over to help her.

Soon, after unpacking the outer packaging, Lee Ji-eun carefully opened the white guitar case, and a glint of silver-blue light immediately caught her eye.

A silver-blue guitar with an amplifier lies quietly in its box, but it's not just a simple silver-blue-white design; it's entirely made of sequins and adorned with rhinestones.

The silver and blue color scheme was very harmonious, shimmering brightly under the studio lights, and complementing the light in Lee Ji-eun's almond-shaped eyes.

On the lower right corner of the cabinet, a line of white artistic lettering with the Korean name "Lee Ji-eun" is quietly placed there, but it is not abrupt at all. On the contrary, it enhances the overall sense of layering of this guitar, which is obviously a well-designed feature.

A gentle voice sounded in my ear: "Do you like it?"

Lee Ji-eun immediately turned to look at the oppa who gave her this birthday present, nodding her head repeatedly.

Seeing this, Chen Yan smiled and reached out to pat the girl's head: "If you like it, then it's yours from now on."

The girl turned to look at the guitar again, and only then did she have time to exclaim, "Wow, it's so beautiful, oppa! Where did you order it?"

"It was a guitar shop I used to frequent when I was in college. The owner was a guitar enthusiast who studied design in Japan. He really liked designing guitars, so I told him about the ideas I had come up with before, and he said he could design them, so I had him do it."

Lee Ji-eun immediately grasped the key point in Chen Yan's words: "Oppa, did you think of this guitar design idea yourself?"

Chen Yan nodded: "Yeah, you gave me a guitar for my birthday before, so I thought I'd give you a guitar for your birthday too, you can use it."

"But this guitar definitely can't be too mainstream or ordinary, so I thought of customizing it. Then one day I suddenly came up with this combination, preferably with a bit of a sparkly feel, which would be more suitable for girls."

He smiled and said, "But I only provided a general idea; the specific details were all thanks to the boss."

"That's great too."

Lee Ji-eun turned her head to look at the guitar again.

Knowing that the design idea came from this oppa himself, I like it even more now, and my joy is almost overflowing.

His gaze then fell on the name in the bottom right corner: "Oppa, was adding my name your idea too?"

"Ah."

Chen Yan's gaze also fell on that line of names: "It's a very simple meaning, which is that I hope you can be yourself, Lee Ji-eun."

Lee Ji-eun was stunned when she heard this.

Meeting the girl's almond-shaped eyes, Chen Yan spoke gently:
"Although you are IU, which many people like, I still hope that you can not forget to be yourself, to be Lee Ji-eun. I think being yourself is the most important thing."

A bright smile bloomed on her face, and her beautiful eyes, meeting the gaze of the man before her, stirred with emotion. Lee Ji-eun nodded emphatically.

"Okay, I got it, thank you oppa~"

"Well, now that the birthday presents are all given, let's get ready for class."

"it is good."

Lee Ji-eun glanced at the guitar in the guitar case, and was about to close it, but then paused, as if she had thought of something.

A few seconds later, the silver guitar was handed to Chen Yan by a small hand.

Chen Yan was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at the owner of the small hand.

Lee Ji-eun chuckled and said, "Oppa, how about we skip the music composition class tonight and have a guitar class instead?"

Immediately understanding the girl's thoughts, Chen Yan smiled helplessly: "But you play the guitar just as well as I do, so I don't have anything to teach you."

"Oh, who said there isn't? We haven't been on before. Maybe oppa knows some fingering techniques that I don't."

Lee Ji-eun immediately used a cute and aegyo-sal tone, and finally unleashed her ultimate move: "Oppa, today is my birthday, I'm the birthday boy, you can't refuse me."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yan was momentarily stunned.

He remembered what Lee Soon-kyu had said the night before: "Have a drink with me. It's my birthday today, you can't refuse me."

I heard similar words from two different people within two days.

Thankfully, that older sister's birthday isn't on the same day as Lee Ji-eun's; otherwise, with two birthday celebrants on the same day, it would be hard to know who to listen to.

It can't be based on who's bigger.

Even if Lee Ji-eun teamed up with Peach, she still couldn't win. He measured it himself this morning.

My thoughts are jumping around a bit.

Quickly pulling himself back to reality, Chen Yan smiled at Lee Ji-eun in front of him and said, "Okay, I'll do whatever you say today."

"Hehe~"

Lee Ji-eun then smiled with satisfaction.

Chen Yan reached out and took the guitar from her hand, touching the strings: "It's true that I haven't played the guitar for a while."

The girl sat down on the chair next to him, and upon hearing this, she suddenly remembered something and blurted out, "Peach has never heard of oppa playing guitar either?"

"No."

Not only Peach, but the other three members of the family had never heard him play the guitar in this lifetime.

Lee Ji-eun's eyes lit up instantly.

So, does that mean I'm the first woman to hear this oppa play guitar?

What an unexpected surprise!

Thinking of this, she immediately took out her phone, turned on the video recording function, and pointed it at this oppa.

Seeing this, Chen Yan didn't say anything. He continued to run his fingers across the strings, briefly tested the pitch, and then began to pluck the strings.

As his feel for the strings gradually returned, his fingers plucked them faster and faster.

Lee Ji-eun, standing to the side, watched oppa's actions on camera, her eyes quickly sparkling with excitement, mixed with a few subtle hints of affection.

Chen Yan finished his strumming, his fingers remaining still on the strings, a thoughtful expression on his face, as if he was thinking about what to play next.

Lee Ji-eun didn't say anything to disturb them, and just held her phone and waited quietly.

In less than a minute, Chen Yan's fingers started moving again.

As the familiar intro began, the girl paused for a moment, then smiled and her eyes crinkled.

It's her song, "Good Days".

But two seconds later, when that slightly magnetic male voice rang out along with the guitar, the girl's eyes, which had been squinting, widened instantly, and she even raised her free left hand to cover her mouth.

Unaware of her expression and movements, Chen Yan, already immersed in the music, continued to play and sing.

A few minutes later, the piece ended, and applause immediately broke out from the side.

Lee Ji-eun put down her phone and clapped her hands non-stop.

After applauding, she stretched her right hand, which was a little sore from holding the phone for so long, and said with a slightly sarcastic tone:
"Oppa, why didn't you finish singing?"

Hearing this, Chen Yan almost rolled his eyes and replied irritably, "You want to hear me sing off-key, huh?" He knew that when Li Zhi'en said she hadn't finished singing, she was referring to the three iconic high notes at the end of the song "Good Days".

It was these three signature high notes that officially launched the girl's path to fame.

However, when he got to that part, he stopped singing and just started playing the guitar.

Although he played in a lower key, it would be easy for him to crack his voice if he were to sing. There's no need for that; it's better to be handsome from beginning to end.

"Hee hee~"

Lee Ji-eun chuckled and widened her almond-shaped eyes: "But I didn't expect you could sing, oppa, and you sing so well."

"Just amateur level."

"No way, your skill level is clearly quite high."

The girl immediately retorted, then, as if remembering something, asked expectantly, "Oppa, am I the first person to hear you sing?"

Chen Yan shook his head: "No, the first people to hear it were Xiujing and Taozi. I sang a demo of a song and let them hear it."

Strictly speaking, the first person to hear him sing was Krystal Jung.

He sent her the demo of "Baby Don't Cry" first, and Peach heard it after her.

"As for Peach and the others."

A flicker of disappointment flashed through Lee Ji-eun's mind, followed by anger and resentment.

Well, this Peach, I consider her my best friend with whom I can talk about anything, but she didn't even tell me that oppa can sing.

She pouted, glanced down at her phone, and decided not to send her the video of her oppa playing guitar.

Hmph, serves you right for keeping it from me.

At this moment, the guitar was handed back to her, and Chen Yan looked at her and smiled:
"I've tried it for you, and the sound quality is quite good. Try it yourself."

"Good~"

Lee Ji-eun smiled happily, took the guitar, and her fair fingers quickly began to pluck the strings.

So for the next hour or so, the arranged music class turned into a guitar exchange class, with the two of them playing and singing one after the other, and then passing it on to the other in a cycle.

Seeing the constant smile on the girl's face, Chen Yan knew she was very happy tonight.

More than an hour later, Lee Ji-eun carefully put the guitar back into its case, carefully closed it, and then carried it on her back.

Chen Yan called out from the side, "Let's go."

"Inside."

The two left the recording studio and walked side by side toward the elevator.

Reaching the elevator entrance, Chen Yan reached out and pressed the elevator button.

Suddenly remembering something, he turned to look at the girl next to him: "Ji-eun."

"Ok?"

The girl turned to look at him, blinking her eyes in confusion.

Happy birthday, I forgot to tell you earlier.

The gentle yet slightly magnetic voice reached Lee Ji-eun's ears, but it was as if it had become an invisible hand, landing in her heart.

Looking into the man's deep, smiling eyes, Lee Ji-eun suddenly felt her heartstrings being gently plucked, producing a clear, melodious sound.

A bright smile instantly lit up the girl's face, and she smiled sweetly at Chen Yan: "Thank you, oppa~"

"Ding"

The elevator arrived at the floor, and the elevator doors slowly opened.

The two entered the elevator. Lee Ji-eun adjusted the guitar on her back and suddenly paused.

She looked at Chen Yan and said, "Oppa, can I take some pictures of this guitar later and share them with my fans on social media?"

"Of course you can. The gift is yours, and you can decide for yourself."

"Hehe~ Okay."

Lee Ji-eun chuckled.

She not only wanted to share with her fans, but also harbored a bit of a desire to show off.

In particular, I wanted to show off to a certain Pei rabbit.

Hmph, you didn't get such a special birthday present, did you?

Late at night, in an apartment in Seoul.

After taking a shower, Lee Ji-eun walked out of the bathroom wearing a bathrobe.

I sat down on the edge of the bed, and my gaze immediately fell on the silver-white guitar on the guitar rack not far away.

With a bright smile on her face, she reached for her phone and walked over to the guitar, taking pictures from different angles.

Some photos are simply of guitars, while others are of her with a guitar.

After taking the photos, we started selecting them.

A moment later, a new update appeared on Lee Ji-eun's SNS.

[I received a very special gift. Thank you, teacher oppa @陈言yan, for my birthday gift. I will cherish this gift and use it to bring you great works in the future~]

Below the text are six photos.

Comments appeared within two minutes of the post being published.

[IU's Baby]: What a beautiful guitar! [starry eyes] I look forward to IU bringing us more great songs with it in the future!
[Lee Ji-eun's mom fan]: Thank you, PD Chen, for giving our Ji-eun such a wonderful guitar. We hope you two will collaborate more often in the future.

[Ji-eun's comment]: Oh my god! This guitar is definitely custom-made. Teacher oppa really put his heart into our Ji-eun! This CP fan is totally shipping her again! [Smirk]

Upon seeing this comment from a CP fan, Lee Ji-eun immediately switched to her alternate account and liked it. Afterwards, she saw several more comments from CP fans and liked them one by one.

She only stopped liking the post and started chatting with Taozi after Taozi sent her a message.

Thanks to the popularity of Lee Ji-eun and Chen Yan, within half an hour of the post being published, the three hashtags 【IU Chen Yan】, 【IU's new guitar】, and 【IU's special birthday gift】 rushed into Naver's trending list and continued to climb, sparking heated discussions among fans and netizens.

Lee Ji-eun was unaware of the situation online; she was busy settling scores with Tao for not telling her that Chen Yan could sing.

Even if they knew, they would only be happy that she and Chen Yan had once again made it to the trending topics, just as often as Bae Suzy.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the coin, in a large apartment in Gangnam District, Seoul, someone was struggling to contain their anger.

Sitting at the dining table with a glass of expensive, high-end red wine in front of him, Lee Seung-gi had no appetite for it.

He looked at Lee Ji-eun's latest post on his phone screen, and the comments from fans and netizens below. Especially after seeing the comments from the CP fans, his breathing became heavier.

His face was gloomy, his eyes were full of malice, he took a few deep breaths, and the next second, he grabbed the glass of red wine in front of him.

"boom"

The sound of the wine glass shattering against the ground followed immediately, and the dark red wine instantly stained the white floor tiles.

"Chen Yan! Chen Yan! Chen Yan! It's that damned bastard again!"

Lee Seung-gi slammed his fist on the table.

"Are Yoona, Suzy, and IU idiots? This man is obviously a player, and they all fawn over him. What do I lack compared to him?!"

He was breathing heavily, his mind flashing back to the intimate moments between Yoona and Chen Yan in the JYP underground parking garage that night, and the image of Bae Suzy keeping her distance from him on set. His fists clenched tighter and tighter.

A moment later, Lee Seung-gi calmed down and loosened his clenched fist, but a hint of ruthlessness appeared in his eyes.

The next second, he picked up his phone, opened his contacts, found a number, and dialed it.

"Hey, I have something I'd like your men to help me with."

(End of this chapter)